38-Year-Old Elementary School Cafeteria Worker Sentenced to 27 Years for Criminal Sexual Activity

BIRMINGHAM, AL—PRINCE KNIGHT, 38, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was sentenced to 327 months' imprisonment (27 years and 3 months) today in United States District Court in Birmingham. United States Attorney Alice H. Martin and Charles Regan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation announce the sentencing today of KNIGHT for Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct and Transporting a 15-year-old female minor with the Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity. KNIGHT was found guilty in March, 2009, on one count of Travel with Intent to Engage in Sexual Conduct and one count of Transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Knight to 327 months' imprisonment, to be followed by lifetime Supervised Release, and that Knight register as a Sex Offender. Knight was also ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18.

“Teens that run away are placing themselves in unknown danger. Any adult who travels to engage in sex with a minor, and/or transports a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity will be prosecuted, it is irrelevant if the child is a ‘runaway’,” stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. “A ‘runaway’ is likely more vulnerable and the conduct is therefore more offensive.”

According to the Indictment and various statements during the trial, on or about January 27, 2008, KNIGHT traveled from Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Manhattan, Kansas for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a 15-year-old child. On Monday, January 28, 2008, KNIGHT picked up the child in Manhattan, Kansas and transported the 15-year-old child back to his apartment in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Per the defendant’s supervisor at an elementary school in Tuscaloosa, the defendant called in sick for work on Monday, January 28, 2008, but returned to work on January 29, 2008. The 15-year-old child left a note for her parents indicating that she had run away to visit her biological father in California. Law enforcement subsequently located and rescued the child in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on February 8, 2008. The case involved national cooperation between several law enforcement officers in multiple jurisdictions in order to rescue the missing child.

“Anyone who violates a child is a sexual predator, whether that child is an infant, or a young teen runaway. Both are vulnerable victims that should be protected by adults. We are pleased that Mr. Knight will no longer be able to violate or take advantage of any more children, and the FBI remains thoroughly committed to investigate those who do so. We will continue to work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to insure the full prosecution of any child sexual predator,” stated Charles Regan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This matter was investigated by the Riley County Police Department in Manhattan, Kansas, the Tuscaloosa County Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel J. Fortune and Beau Brown are prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.projectsafechildhood.gov.